Wild Skills

Wild Skills

Work like a Taronga Conservation Expert from the convenience of your classroom.

Wild Skills is an exciting opportunity for students to get a glimpse into the crucial real-world skills that Taronga’s zookeepers and conservation experts apply in their jobs every day, and for students to then have a go themselves!

Each Wild Skills task encourages students to build their knowledge of critical wildlife species that are under pressure in the wild, get to know the people working hard to protect them, and most importantly have an opportunity to apply their own Working Scientifically, Design & Production, and Thinking Skills in an authentic way, just as Taronga’s experts do every day.  

The Wild Skills tasks are designed to be modular and flexible to suit the needs of each teacher – embed them into a deeper unit of work or use them as a standalone activity. Each module includes a ‘Meet and Greet’ video from one of the Taronga’s conservation champions and downloadable PDF tasks that can be completed. Students are encouraged to build their knowledge of the focus species and the threats they face in the wild before or while completing the tasks.

Don’t forget that we also have our popular Ask an Expert Form that can be used to pose questions directly to the right person in the Zoo and receive a reply by email.  

Stay tuned and check back regularly as new species and tasks are added. 

The first Wild Skills modules available are shining a light on our Legacy Species, which are 11 critical species that in 2016, Taronga made a special commitment to protect and conserve. Six of them native to Australia, and five on the brink of extinction in Sumatra- a biodiversity hotspot and one of Australia’s closest Asian neighbours. 

Sugar Glider

Wild Skills used: Design & Make

Download the resource: Wild Skills Sugar Glider Resource - Wildlife Crossing

Koala

Wild Skills used: Design & Production, Communicating

Download the resource: Wild Skills Koala Resource - Campaigns and Crossings

Corroboree Frog

Wild Skills used: Data Analysis, Communicating

Download the resources:

Wild Skills Corroboree Frog Resource - Frog Facility

Wild Skills Corroboree Frog Resource - Frog Fieldwork

Greater Bilby

Wild Skills used: Design & Make, Systems Thinking, Communicating

Download the resources: 

Wild Skills Bilby Resource - Predator Proof

Wild Skills Bilby Resource - Release Research

Sumatran Tiger

Wild Skills used: Computational Thinking

Download the resource: Wild Skills Tiger Resource - Tail ID